What is it?
TechFest is Aberdeen and the North-East Scotland's annual festival of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. It ranks after Edinburgh as the second longest running science festival in the UK. The University is a major supporter of TechFest and hosts the education charity TechFest-SetPoint whose team run it.
Who can present?
The public programme features lectures, tours, debates and a family activity weekend. Primary schools activities run for 5 days while the secondary schools programme requires presenters to visit schools at mutually convenient times.
Typical involvement to date has seen senior researchers delivering evening lectures, postgraduates giving lunchtime talks and science busking at the family weekend, undergraduate students enrolling as festival ambassadors and research teams giving over time to field a workshop at the primary schools week and/or family activity weekend.
Where do TechFest events take place?
Events take place across the city and Aberdeenshire. Evening lectures are hosted in the University's Fraser Noble Building and occasionally in Kings College Centre. The primary schools week and family activity weekend take place at RGU.
Is it for me and how do I get involved?
Because of the diversity of TechFest events there is a range of formats to choose from. The programme each year is led by the TechFest team with the University contribution shaped via close collaboration with the Public Engagement with Research Unit. This happens between March and June with the programme finalised in July.
Evening lectures are well attended so if there is a research area or topical issue that would make for a good subject, then we'd like to hear from you. We're also interested in new activities for the primary week and family weekend. This requires a greater time commitment and usually involves several members from a research team taking shifts, for instance to cover the full 5 days of the primary week.
The secondary programme is a great opportunity to undertake talks or activities in the classroom, and dates are arranged on a mutually convenient basis. If you are interested then contact us to discuss opportunities.